The blog features coverage of maritime forces,NATO,air defence,combat operations,the Department of Defense,space exploration and nature writing.There can be no blog without its readers.One ad click per visit is suggested to support this service.

On 30 October,Defense Intelligence Agency director Lieutenant General Vincent R. Stewart,US Marine Corps,announced that Air Vice Marshall Sean Corbett,Royal Air Force,United Kingdom,has been selected as the first deputy director for Commonwealth Integration (DDCI) at the DIA.It is a rotational post for the FVEY allies,or "Five Eyes," at the DIA,referring to the intelligence alliance between the US,Canada,UK,Australia and New Zealand.This alliance has drawn closer over the past 10 years for a better exchange of intelligence,assessment and burden-sharing to enhance collaboration on challenging intelligence issues.*
AVM Corbett is the RAF's senior intelligence officer and has commanded joint and single service intelligence organisations at every level.He had previously served as Chief of Intelligence,Afghanistan,and,most recently,as Assistant Chief of Staff (Intelligence),Permanent Joint Headquarters,UK.*
Earlier in October,the DIA held a ribbon-cutting for the new Intelligence Community Campus located at 4600 Sangamore Road,Bethesda,Maryland.The ICC-B is an advanced collaborative IC campus for up to 3,000 relocated intelligence staff from the Washington National Capital Area.
I believe this world-class facility is a beautiful addition to the community,said Director of National Intelligence General James Clapper,US Air Force Retired,at the ceremony.This facility is,in so many ways,the physical manifestation of intelligence integration,GEN Clapper added.*
DIA was executive agent for the ICC-B project,which involved redeveloping the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Sumner Campus into an integrated multi-agency site.The ICC-B has a new six-storey parking garage and a sleek glass façade that creates a unified modern structure by wrapping around the three pre-existing buildings.The facility will house staff from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) National Counterintelligence and Security Center;the National Intelligence University;and the DIA.Centrally located among the intelligence agencies,it is marked by the use of LED-lighting for energy conservation.As well,by redeveloping an existing campus,the IC realised a cost savings of around 60% versus the construction of new buildings.*
A combat support agency,DIA provides military intelligence to warfighters,defence policymakers and force planners in the Department of Defense and the IC.It aims to prevent strategic surprise,deter conflict and prepare to defeat future adversaries,delivering decision advantage to prevent and decisively win wars as the indispensable source of defence intelligence expertise.
The DIA's core mission capabilities are collecting,processing,exploiting and analysing foreign military and defence-related information,then producing and disseminating timely and relevant all-source analysis.It combines these with expeditionary competency in providing surge intelligence support to combatant commanders and warfighters to meet operational and tactical priority requirements.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

More than two dozen Russian Backfire,Bear and Blackjack bombers launched from a base in Southern Russia Tuesday night and released air-launched cruise missiles that struck the ISIL capital of Raqqa,Syria.According to Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Steve Warren,US Army,at the same time,a multi-ship formation of Russian warships in the Caspian Sea fired sea-launched cruise missiles at the same location.The missiles flew through Iraqi airspace and it was also the first time Russia had struck targets in Raqqa,COL Warren added.Russia notified the US beforehand,but didn't share its target set.The US neither cooperated nor coordinated with Russia on this strike;nor are there currently any plans to do so in the future,according to COL Warren.There is daily communication with Russia,but only to test the communications link.Right now,I see no indication they hit anything in our target set,the OIR spokesman told reporters via teleconference.*
A Russian spokesman said that the strike hit 14 important ISIL targets,including command posts that coordinate ISIL activities in Idlib and Aleppo Provinces,as well as munitions and supply depots in Northwest Syria.The Russian General Staff has developed a new plan for the air campaign involving the deployment of 25 strategic bombers,including eight Su-24 Fullback attack jets;four Su-27 Flanker fighter jets;plus the variable-sweep wing Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-22m Backfire jet bombers and the prop Bear bombers.The Bear and Blackjack bombers carry at least 20 tonnes of weaponry.All of the aforementioned bombers have a range of thousands of miles.*
At the G20 summit in Antalya,Turkey last weekend,US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to strike more ISIL targets with Russian airpower.Previously,Russia had primarily been going after opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

NORAD,the North American Aerospace Defense Command,and its geographical component,CONR,the Continental US NORAD Region,will be holding training flights over the Washington,D.C. area overnight Tuesday into Wednesday from 12 am until 2 am,in support of Operation Noble Eagle,the air defence operation instituted following 9-11.Such exercises are held periodically to hone NORAD's intercept and identification operations and operationally test the National Capital Region Visual Warning System and train Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) personnel;they also ensure CONR's rapid response capability.Besides the US Air Force,the drills will include the US Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter;Civil Air Patrol aircraft;and the participation of the FAA and the National Capital Region Command Center.The Coast Guard conducts armed helicopter overwatch as part of its counterterrorism mission.*
CONR is based at Tyndall Air Force Base,Florda,and directs both the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state and the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) based in Rome,New York.CONR's principal weapons systems are the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon provided by the 10 Air National Guard fighter wings of First Air Force.CONR's assets also include the US Army 2nd Battalion 263rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington,D.C.,where the JADOC is also located.Typically a number of Canadian Forces personnel are detailed to CONR as well.*
Since 9-11,CONR's fighter aircraft have responded to more than 5,000 possible air threats in the US and flown more than 62,500 sorties supported by Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) and air to air refueling aircraft.
EADS counters all threats with vigilant detection,rapid warning and precise tactical control of NORAD and NORTHCOM forces,with its vision being to detect and defeat the next air attack on America.*
The highly integrated air defence system of NORAD allows us to identify,track,and if necessary,engage both external and internal aerospace threats,said NORAD and US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Commander Admiral William Gortney,US Navy.NORAD adds aerospace warning,aerospace control and worldwide maritime warning in the defence of North America.NORAD's Deputy Commander and Commander,Canadian Element is Lieutenant-General Pierre St.-Amand,CMM,CD.

This blog has reviewed the 2014 Air Force Global Strike Command Strategic Master Plan,which is currently in force.AFGSC is headed by Lieutenant General Stephen W. Wilson,Commander.The AFGSC is entrusted with the nation's most powerful weapons,LTGEN Wilson points out.Its Airmen see things globally,their focus inherently global and strategic.They provide the nation effective deterrence and,when called upon,rapid global strike.
AFGSC is a warfighting component,a MAJCOM of US Strategic Command that executes assigned deterrence,assurance and global strike missions.It organises,trains and equips both conventional and nuclear combat forces for the President and Combatant Commanders.ICBM forces are deployed in a nuclear deterrent role,and AFGSC bombers plan and execute deterrence and Global Power/Strike operations to provide USSTRATCOM with a viable deterrent capability.*
The strategic environment continues to present a very dynamic and uncertain picture and the number of state and non-state actors that can produce strategic effects across the spectrum of conflict is growing in both quantity and complexity.In current and future conflicts,AFGSC forces are required to survive and operate in threat environments ranging from low threat/permissive to highly contested Anti-access/Area Denial environments,according to the US Air Force Posture Statement 2013.
The Air Force's nuclear deterrent and conventional precision strike forces can credibly deny adversary objectives or impose unacceptable costs by effectively holding any target on the planet at risk and,if necessary,disabling or destroying targets promptly,even from bases in the continental United States.
AFGSC has at its disposal two numbered Air Forces,the Eighth and the Twentieth,and five Air Force Bases.Over 25,000 personnel operate,maintain and support its 450 ICBMs;24 UH-1N Air Force Security Forces helicopters;and 96 long range,nuclear-capable bombers.AFGSC B-52H bombers have been deployed to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and NATO exercises,while its B-1B bombers have participated in Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIL.*
The era in which the US can project global military power virtually uncontested will likely end by 2030,if not before,the Strategic Master Plan projects.The potential state and non-state actors that can threaten the US and its allies across the spectrum of conflict are growing in number and increasing in complexity.This requires a greater effort by the US to work with key allies and partners to maintain peace and stability around the globe.
Nations with Weapons of Mass Destruction and advanced conventional capabilities will continue to be potential strategic threats.Foreign intelligence and security services will continue efforts to gather information on US capabilities through HUMINT,SIGINT and imagery intelligence to replicate or mitigate US military advantages.Violent and extremist terrorist groups will continue to develop indirect means to strike the US through recruitment and subversion of dissidents or through covert insertion.They will continue to pursue their goal of acquiring nuclear weapons or other WMD,the Strategic Master Plan predicts.*
The Strategic Master Plan goes on to outline in detail a number of priorities that must be met to ensure that the mission of AFGSC will be accomplished,such as the modernisation and replacement of major weapons systems and aircraft.

NASA has released an intricate roadmap of its central manned spaceflight mission:"NASA's Journey To Mars:Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration."According to NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden,US Marine Corps Retired,the report,which was reviewed by this blog,consists of additional details about our journey to Mars and how we are aligning all of our work in support of this goal.The plan presents three thresholds of challenges,each more difficult than the last as the distance from Earth increases:
1.Earth Reliant Exploration is centered on the International Space Station,where the world class microgravity laboratory is testing technologies and advancing human health and performance research that will enable deep space,long duration missions.
2.Proving Ground:NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that is just days from Earth.Primarily,this means cislunar space,or that volume of space which is around the Moon.Cislunar space features multiple possible staging orbits for future deep space missions.In this phase,NASA will advance and validate capabilities needed for humans living and working at vast distances from Earth,such as at Mars.This phase is linked to the upcoming Orion Exploration Mission flights and the Asteroid Redirect Mission.
3.The Earth Independent threshold builds on the previous two to enable Mars missions,possibly to low-Mars orbit or one of the Martian moons before an eventual landing on Mars.*
This strategy charts a course toward horizon goals,while delivering near-term benefits and defining a resilient architecture that can accommodate budgetary changes;political priorities;new scientific discoveries;technological breakthroughs;and evolving partnerships,said Dr.William Gerstenmeier,NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations.The ultimate goal is enabling humans to thrive beyond Earth for extended periods of time,leading to a substantial presence in deep space.The near-term missions have a cadence of compelling and integrated human and robotic missions providing for an incremental buildup of capabilities for more complex missions over time.At least one crewed mission per year is envisioned for the Proving Ground,cislunar phase.
The Proving Ground phase begins in 2018 with Exploration Mission 1,the first integrated test of the new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft,including the SLS launch performance;Orion's heat shield performance following return from deep space;and deep space navigation.
Exploration Mission 2 will be the first crewed mission for Orion,featuring the addition of the Exploration Upper Stage and the possibility of co-manifested payloads within the EUS-to-Orion launch vehicle adapter,such as pressurised modules for habitability.*
Beyond these initial cislunar missions,the Asteroid Redirect Mission introduces Solar Electric Propulsion,which utilises energy from the sun to accelerate ionised propellant to very high speeds,to provide thrust for months or years-transporting big loads with far less propellant than with chemical propellant,extending the deep space exploration capabilities critical for Mars and beyond.
Deep space acronyms mentioned in the report include EDL-Entry,Descent and Landing;ISRU-Insitu Resource Utilisation;SEP-Solar Electric Propulsion;EUS-Exploration Upper Stage;and ECLSS-Environmental Control and Life Support Systems.NASA emphasises that its Mission to Mars is for all of humanity and international in character, relying heavily on partners from the ISS missions and more,as well as space industry partners.For example,the European Space Agency is providing the test Service Module that is stacked beneath the Orion spacecraft.